"Hmm? Oh, That was my instrument of justice. I’m actually a vocalist!"

In this exciting episode, we will answer these questions!!!
-WHY is the husband bald?
-WHY the fascination with cleaning?
-WHAT is Sorrow Sheeps?
-HOW do you find oil paint in Kyoto?
-WHERE is Mexico?
And so much more!!!

There is some updating on events to be done. So listen, children, gather round. It’s been an interesting weekend.

Security Husband has been burning the midnight oil to finish research, work at job, and try to swim to prepare for the Japan Masters. I had midterms at school this week, so I took a personal day, lounged around, did some writing, got some sleep. I took off the afternoon on Friday to have time to bake cookies for a breakfast brunch in Kyoto. Friday night after class we went to Saizeriya with R from Minakuchi, the BB, Nishida, and L from Minakuchi. L is my new aerobics buddy from Peru. She lent me a fistful of Peruvian TV shows on DVD. Wootwoot!!!

Saturday, Security Husband took it easy. Rested. Swam. I expected to launch myself in the direction of south Shiga, but instead found that my plan for all day cleaning had fallen through! (Joyce from church is heading back to America, and we had been planning on helping her do that final housecleaning before moving out.) So, I called up B from Nara instead. We ended up at the Hiromi Ichida collection of indigenous clothing on display right now. Very cool. Out of time to make more cultural things happen, we went for Indian food at the marvelous Raju’s. I got to show how smart I was, pointing out that “Paneer Butter Masala” had cheese in. B informed me that paneer was the name of the cheese. YES!!! I am smart.

I bid B adieu, and zoomed over to Katata. Caro-chan asked me a while back to go see the Ring Side Horfars, because they had a live performance that night. They have a great sound, which I really enjoy. They were also last in the lineup, which was seven bands. We came halfway through, so I only saw four. Huckleberry live house is a very small room, roughly a third of which is a stage. There is a small bar, a balcony for band members, and two or three tiny tables, but no real seating. This place is for hearing music, plain and simple. And to comment—most of the people there were the bands, a couple of girlfriends, and a few friends. Me an’ Caro-chan were the only foreigners. It’s an odd feeling. Most of the lineup was hard rock or punk, or something I like to term "loud." It is interesting when the wall you are leaning against can give you a back massage. Most groups handed out a questionnaire after their short set. Sorrow Sheeps asked for criticism, and gave me a sticker, even though I commented that occasionally their vocal harmony needed work. (See above quote. As a vocalist, that is the only real perspective I can offer and know what I am talking about!) Also got to hear Wasted Breed. Loud, but entertaining. RingSide had an old CD for sale for 200yen!!!! I bought it. Also a pleasure to my ears were Nayuta -- who have a very eclectic sound—"What genre would you say we were?" asked the questionnaire. Maybe electronic/progressive? What do I know about genre? More than cheese? I picked up their CD, too. They all looked very tall on stage, but when I spoke to them briefly after, I saw that it was not so. They also have "very good looking" going for them. Ring Side, of course, was great, and brought their ambient, electronical, muselike sound to everyone, soothing our ears and letting our minds take flight after hours of very loud guitar and screaming into microphones.

All of the groups want to perform, and some of them are really talented. Most of them put together their own CDs, and occasionally someone gets signed. But for the most part, nobody knows they exist, which is sad. Either that or they have no way to find their target audiences. One of the guys mentioned that the current situation in Japan was kind of how the US was in the early 90s… These guys may be the groundbreakers in a real independent music scene in Japan. But for now, they are playing to a mostly empty house. But they are all really nice, and I wish them big crowds that dance and scream their names. Whenever I get a car, I can put a Sorrow Sheeps sticker on the bumper, and point and say, “Now THIS is indy.”

When I returned home at 1:30 am, I found Security Husband running around with no hair. Yes, he had to get up at 5 am for the Masters, and had shaved his head to be swimmy. He was gone before I was conscious, and I hauled myself, my cookies, and some mint from the balcony in to Kyoto. It was the goodbye brunch after church for Joyce. It would have gotten kind of emotional (and it was anyway), but she said she would pop in just before leaving for the airport next Sunday. So it was a goodbye sans goodbyes, which was good. There were some visitors, and I was asked if I was the "layout artist" for the church homepage. That was gratifying. I had a good laugh about that.

I also had a good laugh on Friday at Japanese class, when I had to explain that Mexico was not an island in the Caribbean. Mexico is the country which borders the continental United States to the south, and is quite large, with a variety of terrain, in case you were hazy on that one. But then again, I shouldn’t mock, because I couldn’t label all the countries in Asia if I had to.

And finally, if you want oil paint in Kyoto, don’t go to Maruzen. They ain’t got it. Go to Loft, around the corner. Loft’s art stuff floor is HYOOJ. It’s amazing. And yes, this project is as secret as it is experimental.

As for the quote that starts this article, see its original context by clicking it! Also check out weekly-updated running webcomic by the artist, called Flaky Pastry. It is beautiful. And funny.